From comments she made in the review of my book, and those of others, on Amazon and Goodreads, Ormiston-Smith seems to be a fine and eclectic reader, and a good sport as well, and I am both honored and touched.

A few weeks ago, Scott Pohl of Current State on MSU’s WKAR radio invited me over for an interview regarding my novel, Student Body, so we into the studio and chatted. Really, it was quite a bit of fun, and an interesting experience.Today the piece ran on 90.5 FM in the morning and again in the evening. All-up, it was a hair over 11 minutes—and that was even after cutting the part I originally had read from the novel. It was very kind of Scott to suggest a reading, but what I chose happened to end up running a couple minutes over what was planned, so that’s what I get for yakking so much.

Student Body is, shall we say, a tad allusive—hopefully enjoyably rather than pretentiously so—to an eclectic range of works from Milton and Shakespeare through things like the Beatles and Bob Dylan. That’s just the way my mind works, apparently, so it’s how my prose goeth as well.

I wondered if any readers might wish to comment on what they found as their favorite allusion(s) in the novel, so I posted the question to ﻿﻿Goodreads﻿﻿. I would love to hear back if anyone happens to stumble upon the query and then has a sec or two to respond. Any takers, dear literate folks...?

Some wiseacre reminded me that this was Valentine’s Day, and in retrospect, I guess I have to admit that this is rather fitting, really. The novel is, after all, not just intellectually and artistically curious but deeply romantic as well.

In a way, although the protagonist may not quite realize it, the book is a love story—two, actually, revealed bit by bit in achingly heartfelt reminiscences through which we can examine one seemingly self-assured young man not only at his most roguishly swaggering but also at his most unguarded and vulnerable.In Student Body we will not, as my main character sniffs of James Joyce’s Ulysses, explore obscure Christian heresies and turn-of-the-century Irish politics and the question of which of the author’s neighbors lived on what street, but we will indeed cover—emotionally, artistically, and intellectually—a fair bit of ground.Perhaps I am an old softy. But I believe I have captured something, or a number of somethings, about the human condition that are worthy of exploration, and are entertaining as well. I hope readers may come to think so, too.Rafeeq

Oops--just picked up a "new" (to me) copy of Starship Troopers, and after scanning, I realized that I apparently hadn't posted the previous one I had gotten either... Now, therefore, in my Heinlein Cover Art area, on the Scribner's YA page we have two new covers, plus a back.

In addition, very soon I expect to publish my novel, Student Body, on Amazon. There will definitely be another blog post then!

Well, as of June 2013, my former intended publisher has stopped putting out new books, so Student Body (previously planned cover art at left) now is back on the market. On the one hand, this is sharply disappointing, because at under 3 months before planned release, the project had been so close to fruition that I could almost taste it. On t'other hand, though...well, although the process is time-consuming and exhausting, it is indeed always exciting to look for new opportunities at another press. So I guess we'll just see how it goes, eh?

I just picked up a weird Heinlein edition called Four Frontiers, a new-ish repackaging of his first four Scribner's juveniles (Rocket Ship Galileo, 1947; Space Cadet, 1948; Red Planet, 1949; and Farmer in the Sky, 1950) in one big hardcover volume at Schuler Books. I have all these novels, of course—often in more than one copy, really—but I just couldn't turn down the art with its Percival-Lowell-type Mars on back.

In addition, on general principle I deepened Sample #4 of my upcoming novel Student Body by backing up for a greater lead-in. I think now it gives a better flavor of what's going on. Finally, I received word from my editor at MyGreenPublisher that the novel is scheduled for release on August 23. I have been looking forward to this for quite some time, so it's very exciting to see the date set at last.

After hemming and hawing for awhile, I at last have added a 5th sample from Student Body, my forthcoming novel. Really, after the first few samples it grows more and more difficult to select any succeeding ones, because while I have deep fondness for particular sections, quoting them would reveal a bit more of the secrets and surprises of the plot than I want. Still, I hope the selection I have posted on the site will give potential readers a fair flavor of the text and characters so that they know what, later, they would be purchasing.

Finally, for my next irregularly scheduled update, I believe I will try to scan and add another decent whack of cover art in my "Other SF Art" section. That gives me—and perhaps other afficionados of science fiction as well—something to look forward to...